1500-YEAR OLD CEMETRY WITH TOMBS DISCOVERED IN CHINA

4/24/2017 12:00:00 AM

Archaeologists have discovered six tombs at a 1,500-year-old cemetery located in Inner Mongolia, China. Five of those belong to the Northern Wei dynasty, while one of them is 1,000 years old, and is from the Liao dynasty.

Inside one of the Northern Wei dynasty tombs, they found a body covered in yellow silk. The archaeologists haven’t yet removed the silk from the body to study the remains.

The occupant wears a gold necklace, a gold headband, gold finger-rings, a gold belt and leather boots. Near him was found a silver bowl, possibly imported from West or Central Asia. At the bottom of it there are protrusions that represent Greek mythology characters including Zeus, Hera, Athena and Aphrodite.

A painting on the outer portion of the coffin has a blue-roofed house standing on red pillars. In the house’s centre sits the occupant surrounded by his round hooded attendants, some sitting while others standing.

These discoveries indicate the riches which were merchandised during that time along the so-called “silk roads” that crisscrossed Europe and Asia. The archaeologists suppose that the cemetery belonged to an aristocratic family, probably the tribal chief of the Gaoche tribe.